49 Other Dimensions 4 Demiplanes are not the only class of alternate realities or pocket dimensions that falls outside of the major planes’ neat categorization. Some realities simply don’t fit within that rubric, defying current explanations as to how or where they exist, yet existing nonetheless. The following list catalogs the most prominent demiplanes and other realities known to Golarion’s sages, with much of the knowledge gleaned from such sources as the lillend-authored Ref lections of Silver and Tarnish, the scrolls of Ylerimon Azhvin the Reformed, and the Nidalese text Tableau of the Void Between. Basalfeyst Not a traditional demiplane, Basalfeyst nonetheless holds a unique position as an adopted layer of the Abyss. It is the home of Hadregash, Venkelvore, Zarongel, and Zogmugot—the four barghest demigods that comprise the goblin pantheon and who once called the Nine Hells their home. Seeking to expand her inf luence among their people, Lamashtu the Demon Queen promised them a new home and freedom from Asmodeus’s grasp in exchange for their fealty. Rather than providing them with a distinct layer of the Abyss, something yet beyond Lamashtu’s capacity (or that of any other god or demon lord), she used the fractious nature of the plane to provide a solution. Reaching into the infinite malleability of the Maelstrom, Lamashtu forged a planar conduit from a stolen bubble of its essence. Poisoned with the touch of the Abyss, the Demon Queen siphoned the barghest realm through this conduit and placed it adjacent to her own domain. As a result, Basalfeyst retains some of its ancient legacy as a child of Hell, littered with the crumbling ruins of diabolic keeps and fortifications of the style found on the layer of Avernus. Each of the four demigods resides within a domain filled by a fractured amalgamation of hellish architecture, chaotic styles adapted from the Abyss, and simple buildings inspired by their own mortal worshipers. Between their individual regions of the demiplane, vast stretches of disputed territory stand, mostly a mixture of volcanic wasteland and sparse, scrub-filled plateaus cut by turbulent, boiling rivers. Standing apart (and frequently fought over by the nominally allied demigods) are the socalled Screaming Pyrelands, which dominate the central reaches of their shared domain. This is a massive, twisted forest of trees that ooze thick, tarry sap like coagulated blood, existing in a state of constant conf lagration. According to goblin legends, each tree was grown from a seed granted to their gods by Lamashtu, inserted into the f lesh of those devils and goblinoid souls that refused to break with Asmodeus. As a result, each of the trees grows like a woody prison around the agonized, screaming figure of its host, with the f lames emerging from its body to set its tree alight, roasting its f lesh for eternity without allowing it the mercy of oblivion. The Dead Vault In central Casmaron, in the heart of the Whispering Wastes, the yawning Pit of Gormuz stands as a reminder of past tragedy, ancient triumph, and a looming threat to Golarion’s future. During the world’s dim prehistory, Golarion’s gods banded together to rid themselves of Rovagug, a deity dedicated to the destruction of all things the gods had set into motion. Through an alliance of necessity between Sarenrae and Asmodeus, who were aided by more than a dozen other divinities, Rovagug and his servitors were trapped within a demiplane thrust down through Golarion’s crust—buried and sealed, it was said, at the planet’s very core. The Pit of Gormuz descends down and out of sight, burrowing through the planet’s crust and plunging through each layer of Golarion’s Darklands. The massive shaft provides a direct path to the surface for their denizens, while simultaneously threatening them with the leaking inf luence of Rovagug’s fury. The demiplane, known ever-after as the Dead Vault, is a thing of awesome power. Unlike many demiplanes, its exterior is crafted and defined, combining Sarenrae’s burning fury and the dark pragmatism of Asmodeus. It appears as a massive globe of cut and faceted golden topaz, a chunk of yellow stone fossilized around a deific insect, with rings of black iron coiling around its periphery and embossed with a terrible litany of binding runes. It sits lodged within the planet’s core, visible to any capable of pushing back the surrounding magma, but curiously untouchable. Any person attempting to physically reach the demiplane’s exterior experiences a strange warping of space that pushes the offending party away from the apparent physical boundary. Rarely, such an attempt may be successful, but only insomuch as Asmodeus sees fit to reward such success and perseverance by causing the Vault to swallow the intruder whole, trapping him inside as well. Though such unfortunates are indeed imprisoned, the seals that hold Rovagug were crafted in haste, and the gods did not yet truly understand just what Rovagug was, nor of what the Rough Beast was capable. As such, the seals are imperfect, and cannot fully contain his power. Like a great sieve capable of holding back certain things while letting through those of finer size, the barriers block Rovagug’s escape but cannot fully prevent its inf luence from leaking out into the surrounding Darklands, eventually gaining in potency to the point where they trigger a monstrous, transformative malignancy within one of the Darklands’ natives, creating a monster and infusing its tortured spirit with that of one of Rovagug’s servitors.
50 Pathfinder Chronicles: The Great Beyond This influence first came to a head in –3923 ar, giving birth to the first Spawn of Rovagug, and over the next 5,000 years the cyclic eruption of horrors continued to issue forth from the lip of the Pit, with such beasts as the Tarrasque— also known as the Armageddon Engine—and its kindred Vulnagur, the great beetle Ulunat, Chemnosit the Monarch Worm, Xonati the Fire-Bleeder, and others emerging to rain down the wrath of their “father” upon the face of the world. Many have wondered about the Vault’s interior; as no divine servitors of Rovagug encased within have ever escaped, only dreams and visions sent by the imprisoned god provide a clue. Much larger than the 20-mile-wide lip of the Pit of Gormuz, the Dead Vault resembles a gigantic hollow world, thousands of miles in diameter, utterly devoid of light, and literally swimming with a chitinous ocean of the Rough Beast’s frenzied, selfcannibalizing servitors. But other things exist: entire sections of the Darklands have been subsumed and absorbed into the vault, especially parts of the lowest layer and the bizarre creations of the Vault Keepers, as well as packs of devils and others that somehow survive amid the devouring anarchy. These last prisoners raise yet more questions: Has Asmodeus used the Vault as a repository for more than just Rovagug? Does the god-fiend exercise his power over its gates to condemn enemies to a certain, swift death or eternal silence trapped within a realm to which only he possesses the key? The Dimension of Dreams Most planar travelers to the Ethereal easily recognize those points at which the Dimension of Dreams intersects the ethereal shallows. These regions, literally bubbling with the manifest dreamscapes of slumbering mortal minds, produce thousands or millions of temporary demiplanes, each linked to a single mortal’s dreams and capable of offering access to the greater Dimension of Dreams for those with the right knowledge and ability. But such fantastical creations exist only for so long as their dreamer maintains each dream, as with their dreamer’s rise from slumber, each pocket reality bursts like a soap bubble on the wind and subsumes into the ethereal froth. Extending beyond the myriad temporary realms of mundane dreams, built up from their gestalt, gathered from every dreaming mind across the Material Plane, the Dimension of Dreams stretches out parallel to and yet at strange angles away from the architecture of the cosmos. At first the landscape is one of the most prosaic and common archetypal dreams culled from a traveler’s cultural background. Progression deeper into the plane reveals more and more fantastical places, and all the while the traveler’s subconscious molds the landscape around him, often carving out a personal fiefdom of his own most intimate and cherished dreams if he stays away from the waking world for too long. The demiplane is a seductive place, but it has a dark side as well. Along with its wonders, nightmares lurk as living things within its depths, their empires carved out by lucid dreamers gone mad. Among such interlopers, three feuding night hags endure like demigods among the physical dreams, warping them by sheer malignant force of will, countered in their marauding only by an equally powerful azata sorceress, Fiorindria the Longing, who dwells within the dreaming kingdom of her catatonic mortal lover. Entry into the dreaming lands differs from other planes, and the few rare spells associated with it only aid a traveler’s entry, rather than guaranteeing it like gate or plane shift. Various artifacts exist to grant travel beyond mundane dreams, such as the Key of Celephais, Mnemoka’s Flask, and the Golden Liao Censer. Mysteriously, all of them appear to have originated within the Dimension of Dreams itself, transported back into the waking world by means and persons unknown. Others have managed to hone their ability to dream lucidly to such an extent that regular travel to and from the Dimension of Dreams is possible, and tales exist of such gifted individuals abandoning the material world for those of their dreams. The Dimension of Time For many years planar scholars have speculated upon the existence of an “elemental” plane of time itself, also known as the Hidden Dimension. Certainly such creatures as time elementals exist, rare as they might be, and thus (like the true elementals) it is supposed that time elementals have a native plane associated with their element. Still, the other planes have only scattered information on the subject, much of it from the Book of Serpents, Ash, and Acorns—Shadows of What Was and Will Be, a bizarre and possibly intelligent tome discovered for sale in the markets of the City of Brass, cold to the touch and penned on pages of compacted, f lexible ash. From the collected lore, the Dimension of Time is thought to be distinct in form from both the elemental planes and the various transitive planes as well, existing tangentially to the Inner Sphere as a whole, but with the Outer Sphere remaining outside of the bounds of its influence. Curiously enough, the plane appears protected from deific access and intervention, yet mortals, shackled to it in a way that gods and immortals either transcended or never knew, may call upon and temporarily manipulate its denizens. Sages speculate that the gods exist beyond the reach of time; fate seems to pull like a tide upon mortals swimming through its waters, while gods may only watch from the distant shore. Given that metaphor, through the use of rituals described in the Book of Serpents, mortals may enter the dimension
51 Other Dimensions 4 by conjuring and crawling up the manifest expression of their own timelines. The dimension’s interior always appears the same to visiting mortals, at least those entering by the methods the book describes, with mortals deposited within a glassy bubble surrounded on all sides by a chaotic whirlwind of sensations and manifest instances from random times and places. At the bubble’s center, a solitary doorway exists, providing the visitor with access to any moment in his own life, provided he remembers it and can focus on the memory long enough to stabilize the doorway. Travelers through the doorway possess translucent cords radiating from their torsos back to the doorway like insubstantial leashes, similar to the silver cords of astral projections, tethering them to their only method of exit. Those who visit such fragments of the past and make attempts to alter their own history never return. Something happens to them, and time zealously self-corrects at any cost, even erasing the offending party from the timeline or trapping him within a closed paradox loop as a peculiarly cruel sort of damnation. But for those not seeking to disturb the past, only to visit it and learn, the doorway and the plane are invaluable tools. Many scholars who visit this dimension speculate that other methods of entry exist that allow manipulation of the past or future, and that the most common method provides a sort of filter or buffer, insulating mortals from possibly lethal sensory overload. Without such aid, travelers might be lost in time, constantly affecting their own timelines by accident, provoking a swift response from the plane’s mysterious inhabitants. The nature of the author of the Book of Serpents remains in question, as well as his or her seemingly benevolent intentions (as abuse of the book’s methods has led to more death than not), but a puzzling epilogue scrawled on the last page reads only: “In Stethelos, I am waiting.” The First World Lurking within many of Golarion’s darker and more fantastical myths and fairy tales are references to the socalled First World. A place untouched by civilization and possessed of a life all its own, the First World is something more animate and dramatically distinct from the warped shadow presented by the Plane of Shadow. While the Shadow exists as a pale, mocking ref lection of the Material, some hold that the Material does the same for the First World, or even that the First World was some manner of “rough draft” fashioned in the dim twilight of the cosmos, and later set aside or abandoned. Regardless of its origin, the First World exists out of phase with the Material Plane, overlapping its boundaries yet existing entirely independent of the Ethereal and Shadow. Magic can provide transportation between the two planes, but only in places where their boundaries already run thin, such as in the wild places untouched by civilization, or those rare places the fey see fit to mark as theirs, placing mounds, stones, and rings of earth or mushrooms like boundary fences between the planes. Within the First World stand ancient forests as tall as mountains, living lakes and rivers, traveling faerie courts alternatively benevolent or sadistic, and landscapes of all manner separated by rolling, animate banks of memory-eating and time-shifting fog. Among the denizens of the First World, two groups stand foremost in the collective body of Golarion’s mythologies: gnomes and the fey. The gnomes remember little of their ancient home, or even why they left, almost as if they voluntarily chose to forget the circumstances—and given how harsh the Material Plane has been to them at times, those circumstances must have been horrific. In any event, as a people the gnomes seem incapable or unwilling to return, and as such the realm’s other inhabitants, the fey, alternatively pity or resent them—though if the fey have a deeper knowledge of the conditions that predicated their egress, they uniformly refuse to speak of it. Unlike the gnomes, the fey natives of the First World exist on the Material Plane only temporarily, stepping between it and their home plane with the ease of a child
52 Pathfinder Chronicles: The Great Beyond skipping across a puddle. As creatures that possess an intrinsic link to the natural world, their vision of nature is one altogether more primordial and alien than that of the material world, something that even druids find confusing, if not disconcerting, to contemplate. Ranging from pixies to redcaps, sidhe to rusalka, and many others, the fey personify the wild excesses of nature. The Immortal Ambulatory A mobile demiplane, the Immortal Ambulatory is less of an enigma, if only because the true nature and power of its master is patently obvious. While most gods occupy a set realm within one of the larger planes, or possess no defined realm at all as they wander the cosmos, Apsu, the patron deity of good dragons, grants his realm mobility possessed by few others. Viewed from its exterior as it drifts among the planes, Apsu’s realm appears as a massive, translucent globe filled with drifting stars and f loating islands, dominated by a central island with a great, vaulted cathedral of pearlescent, almost metallic marble. As for the surrounding islands, some of them reach barely a mile across, while others stretch for hundreds. Each island centers upon a fantastic castle or some manner of classical draconic lair, such as a mountaintop cave, a ruined city, or a cavern woven from clouds. Shifting between them at his leisure, Apsu shares his domain with several dozen consorts, supposedly at least one for each metallic dragon type. Blurring the line between divine servants and lovers, Apsu’s chosen each lay claim to one of the larger islands, populating it and its surrounding constellation with the Waybringer’s petitioners, both draconic and otherwise. Of course, with dragons being rather territorial by nature, more islands appear to fit his worshipers’ and consorts’ needs as they arise. Leng Scurrying about across the Material Plane as buyers of slaves and sellers of curiously f lawless rubies, always keeping their own counsel and refusing to speak of their port of origin, the so-called denizens of Leng represent an intrusion of the unreal and nightmarish into the tangible, waking world. Their rumor-shrouded home exists as some manner of bizarre demiplane either located within a pocket of the Dimension of Dreams or accessible through it, populated by themselves and their less-humanoid fellows, all of whom thirst for the living quarry they ferry back on their black-hulled ships. As for the plane’s interior, only fragments of information exist, gleaned from half-remembered mortal dreams or the lucid nightmares of those under the inf luence of certain drugs obtained at great price from the robed merchants. It is often described as cold and arid, with the crumbling remains of an ancient civilization dotting its desolate and barren landscape. Such dreams also speak of a culture steeped in human sacrifice, and the propitiation of an entity known as the High Priest Not to be Described, a curious figure swathed in dirty yellow silk, its face obscured by a bloody, voluminous mask of the same. Two theories exist as to Leng’s nature. The first supposes that Leng was a physical location, possibly on the Material but more likely from the Outer Sphere, though precisely where isn’t clear. Perhaps it was a physical place that belonged to a deceased plane, the seed of something destroyed during the formation of the present cosmological order, and the Outer Sphere had yet to extricate itself from the chaos of the Maelstrom. The other possibility is that Leng was a place that never existed, but yet endured as a gestalt of many aberrant things that did once exist, having pulled so greatly upon the collective fears and nightmares of mortals that in their darkest dreams they gave it substance once again. Something took that dreaming facsimile and gave it life, allowing its curdled horror into the universe once again—or for the first time. This second explanation might, of course, be worse, because it would imply that Leng’s existence was partially the fault of mortal life, and that something exists upon the planes that saw some value within that abomination. Some suspect a kindred being to the night hags’ patron Alazhra the Dream Eater, something similarly possessed of callous, malevolent disinterest, or an entity that entered the multiverse from an undefined elsewhere. Other Demiplanes By no means is the previous list comprehensive. What follows are other, lesser demiplanes, about which much less is known. The Circle Between The vast, unmapped wilderness of this Ethereal demiplane serves as a planar link between druidic circles across the Material Plane. Tended by a mysterious entity known as the Bramble Maiden and a circle of planetouched druid followers, the forests serve as a sanctuary for many animals and plants long vanished on their original worlds. The demiplane’s standing stones are under the druids’ protection and harbor dozens of portals, including one to Golarion’s Isle of Arenway during the summer solstice, while the rest link to other worlds entirely. Crypt of the Dying Sun Swathed in the light of a red, dying sun, this demiplane contains the reconstructed tomb of a vampiric sorcerer, Larynsang the Wasted, long exiled from his original world on the Material Plane. The brooding undead sorcerer uses
53 Other Dimensions 4 several artificial portals of his own creation to return to the Material Plane in order to abduct victims without the risk of sunlight, while also enriching his material fortunes with stolen wealth now littering the landscape amid a carpet of desiccated bones. The Fleshwarren Seemingly carved from the interior of a massive corpse, this morbid demiplane houses dozens of creatures from various planes, trapped and unable to leave. Most transport magics below that of gate fail, and in the absence of any sources of food or water, the trapped have only the plane’s tissue itself to consume. Yet the f lesh carries a curse, and significant consumption leads to a debilitating addiction, binding the trapped to the demiplane as the only food source capable of sustaining them from that point forward. More mysteriously, the demiplanar corpse’s exposed bones appear artificially carved and inscribed with golden letters in an unknown tongue—a trait that eventually manifests itself in the f lesh and bones of creatures trapped within it. Freehold of the Rogue Angel Littered with the skeletons of celestials and fiends alike, this demiplane is ruled by a shining angelic being calling itself the Forsaken Martyr. As best as any visitors can tell, the celestial was once a powerful deity’s chosen servitor, but it refuses to divulge its former master’s identity, and expresses equal contempt for both good and evil. The Martyr seems disturbingly curious about the moral views of any guests, and has at times exchanged objects or information it possesses in exchange for specific actions, often on distant planes, spanning the moral spectrum from benevolent to vile, without obvious rhyme or reason. The Lost This ethereal demiplane appears as a wonderland of its occupants’ and visitors’ childhood memories. The idyllic landscape supports a population of never-aging children of many species and races, watched over by Grandfather or Grandmother (the gender varying with each the telling), a being never once seen by visitors but spoken of in glowing, loving terms by the children, who seem steadfastly convinced of its reality. Visitors find the landscape shifting to accommodate aspects of their own nostalgic memories, especially places that would otherwise no longer exist, giving them a compelling urge to stay and drawing them deeper into the pocket realm. Worryingly, some of the lost children speak of a time “before they were children again,” or “before they handed away their burden.” The Machine Armory Inhabited by beings reminiscent of inevitables—thousands of them arranged into cold and silent ranks, like soldiers awaiting their general—this demiplane appears to have been constructed not by magic, but by technology. Visitors report a sense of being watched and a periodic buzzing in their ears, as well as golden clouds lurking at the edge of their vision, always observing them, looking much like discorporate axiomites. Looming at the demiplane’s center, and the object of most visitors’ curiosity, stands a massive metallic tower with no visible entrance, emitting a constant thrum of moving gears. Divination magic reveals that an unknown intelligence residing within the plane calls the realm “Iteration 375,” though most planar travelers refer to it by its common name. Mnemovore This quasi-sentient demiplane was created by bizarre, freakishly powerful magic, quite possibly as an unexpected emergent property of multiple failing and frayed enchantments present at its founding. Mnemovore devours other demiplanes, growing as it generates portals into other artificially created realities and subsumes them, specifically hungering for those utilized as wizards’ studies and extraplanar libraries. Whether its creator is alive is unknown, as is whether its predation is a task its creator gave it. While it prefers to absorb only vacant and abandoned demiplanes, sometimes a trove of knowledge is too tempting for the living plane to wait. The Prison of the Laughing Fiend This Astral demiplane moves of its own accord, f lirting with each of the evil and neutral planes and less frequently with their good siblings. Resembling a temperate material world of forests and fields, centered upon an archaic castle and surrounding villages, this realm is outwardly pleasant, but the air is oddly chill, and something seems subtly wrong. The seasons never change, sunlight seems frozen on the air, and no birdsong or insects’ buzzing reaches the ears within a landscape best described as sterile. The demiplane’s interior is a snapshot of a single moment in time, captured and preserved, frozen and isolated. The central keep serves as the lair of a loquacious reptilian demon by the name of Tegresin, the Laughing Fiend. Tegresin’s history is a tale of twisted, reciprocal vengeance, though details seem prone to f lux, and he always paints himself as the victim. Thousands of years ago, Tegresin agreed to a pact with the wizards of a powerful warlord’s clan. With his help, the clan inf licted horrible defeats upon their enemies, but in the end they refused to fulfill their end of the bargain, and the demon destroyed them with some great magic. Somehow, the demon was bound to this demiplane, though the souls of the clan’s descendents f low here, doomed never to reincarnate or reach their gods. Oddly, the creature has never harmed his stolen souls, nor sold them, though he remains open to negotiations.
54 Bestiary Pathfinder Chronicles: The Great Beyond Astradaemon Diving out of the silver haze, this translucent, faintly phosphorescent humanoid appears to be some fusion of a gaunt, eyeless giant, eel, and a monstrous jellyfish. With exaggeratedly long limbs and nearly a dozen ghostly tentacles that extend from its back, shoulders, and upper arms, the creature grasps about at everything near it, tentacles twitching like the sensory organs of a deep-sea predator. Astradaemon CR 13 NE Large outsider (daemon, evil, extraplanar) Init +2; Senses telepathic senses; Listen +20, Spot +20 Aura death knell (10 ft.) Defense AC 26, touch 15, flat-footed 20 (+6 Dex, +11 natural, –1 size) hp 142 (15d8+75) Fort +14, Ref +15, Will +11 Defensive Abilities natural displacement; DR 10/good; Immune acid, death effects, disease, poison; Resist cold 10, electricity 10, fire 10; SR 24 Offense Spd 90 ft., fly 90 ft. (good) Melee 2 claws +20 (1d6+5 plus energy drain) and bite +15 (1d8+5 plus energy drain) and tail +15 (1d12+2 plus energy drain) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks devour soul Spell-Like Abilities (CL 15th) At will—greater teleport (self plus 50 lb.) 3/day—plane shift (DC 20) Statistics Str 21, Dex 22, Con 20, Int 15, Wis 15, Cha 16 Base Atk +15; Grp +24 Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Mobility, Power Attack, Spring Attack, Weapon Finesse (claw) Skills Hide +24, Intimidate +21, Knowledge (the planes) +20, Knowledge (any two others) +20, Listen +20, Move Silently +24, Search +20, Spot +20, Survival +20 Languages Abyssal, Infernal; telepathy 100 ft. Ecology Environment any non-good plane Organization solitary, pair, or pack (3–6) Advancement 16–20 HD (Large), 21–30 HD (Huge) Special Abilities Death Knell Aura (Su) The astradaemon’s body automatically absorbs power from nearby bodiless souls. Any creature that dies within 10 feet of an astradaemon automatically gives it 1d8 temporary hit points and a +2 profane bonus to Strength for 10 minutes. This ability sometimes (Will negates DC 20) affects bodiless undead and spirits traveling outside the body (such as a person using astral projection or magic jar), dealing 1d8 hit points of damage per round the spirit is in range of the daemon’s aura. Devour Soul (Su) As a standard action an astradaemon that begins its turn with a pinned opponent can attempt to draw out and consume the soul of its victim, killing it instantly. This ability only works on living creatures, which may resist with a DC 22 Fortitude saving throw. The save is Constitution-based. For every 5 HD of the slain creature, the daemon gains a +1 profane bonus to attacks, saves, and checks for 24 hours. This ability does not consume all of the soul, and pieces of it still exist after the daemon completes its feast (enough to be able to raise or resurrect the slain victim normally). Natural Displacement (Su) An astradaemon appears to flicker in and out of its current plane, giving it a hazy, translucent appearance much like frosted glass. Creatures attacking it suffer a 50% miss chance. A dimensional anchor spell negates this ability for the duration of the spell. Telepathic Senses (Ex) Astradaemons are blind, but their
55 5 Bestiary: Astradaemon constantly weaving tentacles emit subtle, telepathic signals. This provides them with blindsight. Mind blank and similar magic blocks this sense, rendering the target invisible to the astradaemon. This sense is strongest regarding living, thinking creatures; objects, constructs, undead, and vermin have 20% concealment against the daemon. Astradaemons appear as ghostly, faintly phosphorescent, rail-thin humanoids with exaggeratedly long limbs. The fiends also have a seemingly random number of translucent tentacles trailing from their backs, shoulders, and upper arms, which wave and weave through the air. Their bizarre forms possess heads that are skeletal, elongated, and vaguely piscine, reptilian, or canine, always bearing hungry rictus grins. Wicked, curved claws sprout from their hands and feet, and their tails move in rhythm with their tentacles, typically hanging toward the ground and almost doubling their length. As the perpetually ravenous servitors of Abaddon’s archdaemons, the astradaemons’ touch is corruptive and damaging to the spiritual material of souls. Their touch and especially their bite can cause horrific damage, akin to that of a wraith, to anything they attack. Most feared, however, is their ability to utterly consume the souls of those killed in their proximity, feeding off of their essence or dragging it back to their fiendish overlords. Appearing blind at first glance, astradaemons have no visible eyes—what might have once been eye sockets are covered over by translucent hide. However, while any other creature might be considered crippled by such a deficiency, Abaddon’s soul-harvesters are unhampered by their condition. The fiends more than make up for lack of sight, sensing their environment through the constant movement of their tentacles—like the “vision” of many creatures who live in pitch darkness—and a supernatural awareness of souls. Perhaps most disturbing, astradaemons exist in a uniquely translucent, semi-incorporeal state. This property also allows them to somehow transition between planes with ease, and they often use the ability to f lee pursuit, especially after glutting themselves on stolen souls. Astradaemons never speak and rarely use their telepathy to communicate with anything other than daemons. Ecology Astradaemons are the artificial creations of more powerful daemons—the archdaemons, their greatest servitors, and a select number of non-aligned daemonic nobles. Though the gruesome and blasphemous details are restricted to the most powerful daemons, the process by which astradaemons form begins with the forced amalgamation and rendering down of dozens of mortal souls into a screaming, conscious slurry of quivering soul-stuff. Over days and weeks, the soul-mass experiences unimaginable tortures, until at the apex of its maddening experience its masters fuse it with the spirit of another daemon (always a sacrifice rather than a willing act, usually as a punishment). Once combined with this daemonic essence, ritual magic and their creators’ raw force of will then transmute the damned into their final twisted and blindly obedient form. Just who first created the astradaemons is a mystery. Though the secret has since spread beyond the archdaemons, none of them claim the act as their own, leading some to attribute the act to one of their longsince deposed and now nameless predecessors, or even the mythical Oinodaemon. Habitat & Society While not known to have any true society, astradaemons prefer to travel and hunt in packs, if only to increase the efficiency of their soul hunting upon the Astral. Separate packs do not necessarily cooperate, however, and when in the thick of battle against guardians of the River of Souls, their opponents have observed astradaemons using each other as unwilling cover, pushing rivals toward their enemies, or even on rare occasions killing and devouring their own kind. The distinction might be lost to any non-daemon, but astradaemons give unquestioning loyalty to their original creators, and only grudgingly obey any of their servitors. The majority of their brood were created by and serve the archdaemons, hunting and collecting on their behalf, and their tactics and behaviors ref lect the nature of those masters and their servitor deacons—astradaemons created by Szuriel subtly mimic the behaviors of purrodaemons, those created by Apollyon ape the behaviors of leukodaemons, and so on. As astradaemons return to their creators from time to time, it is likely that some aspect of the souls they consume remains within them, something tangible that the daemon’s creator can extract and use for another purpose. Regardless of their ultimate master, the carnivorous astradaemons all fight with cold, uncaring abandon when hunting for souls. Even more chilling, a pack may try to overrun a group of guardians defending the River of Souls—regardless of celestial or fiendish nature—and carry off soul and outsider alike for eventual consumption and oblivion. In many cases, however, the guardians suffer a worse fate, as astradaemons collectively play with them, slowly tearing them limb from limb in a sick display of what can only be described as pleasure—the only time these daemons display any emotion whatsoever—devouring them bit by bit as if given sufferance by the archdaemons to keep those meals to themselves rather than rendering them up to some greater purpose.
56 Pathfinder Chronicles: The Great Beyond Axiomite This creature resembles a f lawless, perfect example of an elf. When it moves, parts of its body dissolve into golden, crystalline dust, swirling without wind, condensing into winding, artistic coils of symbols and equations before reforming into f lesh a moment later. Axiomite CR 8 LN Medium outsider (axiomite, extraplanar, lawful) Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +17, Spot +17 Defense AC 20, touch 14, flat-footed 16 (+4 Dex, +6 natural) hp 68 (9d8+27); regeneration 5 (chaotic or magic) Fort +9, Ref +10, Will +11 DR 10/chaotic; Immune disease, electricity, mind-affecting effects; Resist cold 10, fire 10; SR 19 Offense Spd 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (good) Melee longsword +10/+5 (1d8+1) Special Attacks summon inevitable Spell-Like Abilities (CL 9th) At will—dispel chaos (DC 20), hold monster (DC 20) 2/day—haste, lightning bolt (DC 18), order’s wrath (DC 19), telekinesis (DC 20), true seeing, true strike Statistics Str 13, Dex 18, Con 16, Int 21, Wis 20, Cha 20 Base Atk +9; Grp +10 Feats Dodge, Empower Spell-Like Ability (order’s wrath), Improved Initiative, Mobility Skills Concentration +15, Craft (any) +17, Diplomacy +17, Hide +12, Knowledge (the planes) +17, Knowledge (religion) +17, Knowledge (any two others) +11, Listen +17, Move Silenty +12, Sense Motive +17, Search +17, Spellcraft +17, Spot +17, Survival +17 Languages Abyssal, Celestial, Common, Draconic, Infernal Ecology Environment Axis Organization solitary, pair, or team (3–12) Treasure standard Advancement by character class; Favored Class expert Special Abilities Alternate Form (Su) As a free action, an axiomite can shift between its normal, humanoid form and a cloud of golden, crystalline dust, appearing as a shifting mass of mathematical symbols and equations. Within this form, the axiomite is incorporeal and can fly. Regeneration (Ex) If an axiomite loses a limb or other body part, the lost portion regrows in 1d6 minutes. The axiomite can reattach the severed part instantly by holding it to the point of injury. After 1d6 minutes, severed body parts decay into inert, crystalline dust and cannot be reattached. Summon Inevitable (Su) Once per day as a full-round action, four axiomites may join hands to summon a zelekhut inevitable. The lords, caretakers, and architects of the eternal city of Axis, the axiomites possess a wide variety of outward forms, oddly unlike the uniformity displayed by their fellow natives, the hive-dwelling formians. A random cross-section of axiomite society contains those who resemble flawless, perfect humanoids of all descriptions—typically humans, elves, tieflings, dwarves, halflings, giants, and gnomes— but these outward shapes belie their true forms, which can be seen briefly whenever the axiomites move or perform any complex actions. During such moments, their bodies partly dissolve into glowing clouds of golden, crystalline dust. The
57 5 Bestiary: Axiomite clouds move and contort on their own accord, temporarily congealing into twisting lines of mathematic symbols and complex tangles of equations. Each axiomite is actually an immortal personification of living, intelligent mathematics approximating a humanoid shape. Regardless of their outward appearance, axiomites are all of the same general mold, save for a number of unique variants elevated from their common base as members of their ruling hive-mind council, to specialize in such pursuits as merging with and controlling their construct armies of inevitables, and other, more difficult tasks. Ecology The first outsiders to populate Axis, the axiomites claim to have emerged from the raw mathematical underpinnings of the laws of the cosmos; in effect, they are the cosmos made manifest in order to understand itself. As such, the axiomites predate the formians, and while such prehistory is often the stuff of myth, they claim their civilization was already thriving when the first of Golarion’s gods made their presence known. Although their history would indicate that they originated independently of the existence of mortal souls, much like the proteans, demons, and others who were among the first outsider races to populate the Outer Sphere, such is not the case. Unlike the forged and constructed inevitables, and also in contrast to the hive-mind formians (who form both from adopted mortal souls and, like terrestrial insects, from their queens’ eggs), new axiomites form from the souls of mortals. This might not have always been the case, and the axiomites speculate that as the cosmos further develops and evolves, they themselves will continue to ref lect any emergent laws and paradigms, such as the rise of mortals and their impact upon the fabric of the Outer Sphere. In other words, the first axiomites may not have come from mortal souls, but new ones do. The transition from mortal soul to axiomite is as mysterious and opaque in many ways as the byzantine mathematics their race obsesses over. Souls unclaimed by Axis’s various gods, as well as those not bound by treaty and territorial agreement with the numerous formian clans, migrate naturally toward one of the great axiomite constructions, describing their pilgrimage as “answering the Resonance” and “the call of the Godmind.” Rising into the sky, each of the axiomites’ metallic and crystalline monoliths thrums with the whir of internal clockwork mechanisms and reverberations of almost musical tones, like those of great tuning forks. Each structure revolves around a single class of laws and its underlying equations, and each attracts mortal souls who, upon touching and merging with it, reemerge days later as coalescent crystalline motes, wearing their original mortal guise as the pattern for their axiomite incarnation. Habitat & Society Unlike the formians, who largely occupy themselves with the endless perfection of their hives (and by extension the eternal city of Axis itself ), the axiomites are focused as much inward as they are outward. Their society is broken into three parts, one of which devotes itself to the construction, maintenance, and command of the plane’s construct armies of inevitables; another to the expansion and construction of Axis; and the last to exploring, calculating, and understanding the ultimate laws underlying Axis and all of reality. As a whole, the combined race is ruled by the decrees of the Transcendental Council of the Defined Infinite, usually called the Godmind of Axis, a periodic meeting of the greatest of all three parts of their society. These superior axiomites undergo a union of mind and spirit, temporarily embodied as a single super-intelligence that calculates the race’s course of action and then divides itself again into its component citizens, who put the Godmind’s plans into action. When enough variables change, or when the previously calculated plans fall short of their intended goals, the axiomites reform their self-constructed god to plan a new or refined future course. The Origin of the Inevitables Tens of thousands of years ago, Axis was eternally expanding and forging agreements with Heaven and Hell about its role in the multiverse. A trio of proteans—two keketars and one of an unknown albino type—emerged out of the borderlands and pronounced an ultimatum: “The infection that is Axis— rigidity, solidity, inflexibility of form and spirit—shackles the potential and innate freedom possessed by creation’s cradle. Axis will cease its expansion from this day forward, or as with a festering wound, we shall see fit to cauterize it.” The axiomites and the ruling formian matriarchs dismissed the threats and prepared themselves for the expected war, but it did not come as they anticipated. “So be it” was the only response on the proteans’ part, spoken by the albino. Twenty-four hours later, the outlying lands on a quarter of Axis’s borders glistened blue, a trait normally found only in the utter depths of the Maelstrom, and without warning the plane’s walls began to crumble as a pair of abyssal cracks tore open through the borderlands’ fabric, spilling out legions of demons. While Axis survived the onslaught, the destruction was massive and widespread. Rather than serving as a warning against the continued expansion of Axis, the proteans’ actions only spurred the axiomites to arm themselves against the forces of Chaos. Thereafter, a portion of all axiomite resources was assigned to building and maintaining an army of indefatigable defenders and champions of order: the first inevitables.
58 Pathfinder Chronicles: The Great Beyond Lurker in light This small humanoid lurks at the edge of illumination, its fine features bleeding away at the edges, making it appear blurred and out of focus. Moving into the light, it vanishes, but its invisible presence is tangible as a feeling of being watched. Lurker in Light CR 5 NE Small fey (extraplanar) Init +8; Senses low-light vision; Listen +9, Spot +9 Defense AC 17, touch 14, flat-footed 13 (+4 Dex, +3 natural) hp 33 (6d6+12) Fort +4, Ref +9, Will +7 Defensive Abilities blend with the light; DR 5/cold iron Offense Spd 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (average) Melee 2 claws +8 (1d3+1) or dagger +8 (1d3+1 plus poison) Spell-Like Abilities (CL 5th) At will—dancing lights, flare, light 1/day—daylight, ghost sound (DC 13), mage hand Statistics Str 13, Dex 18, Con 15, Int 14, Wis 15, Cha 17 Base Atk +3; Grp +0 Feats Improved Initiative, Track, Weapon Finesse Skills Escape Artist +11, Hide +13, Knowledge (the planes) +11, Listen +11, Move Silently +13, Search +11, Spot +11, Survival +9, Use Rope +8 Languages Aklo, Common, Sylvan SQ daylight door, light tolerance, ritual gate Ecology Environment any land Organization solitary, pair, or gang (3–8) Treasure standard Advancement by character class Level Adjustment — Special Abilities Blend with the Light (Su) In areas of bright light, lurkers are effectively invisible. As with greater invisibility, they may attack and still remain invisible. In shadowy illumination, a lurker loses this invisibility, though like all creatures in shadows they have concealment unless the viewer has darkvision. If the lurker is flying, it only has partial concealment (20%) rather than total concealment. Daylight Door (Sp) Once per day a lurker can use dimension door, transporting only itself and up to 50 pounds of material. The start and end points of the teleport must be areas of bright light; if the destination lacks sufficient light, the teleport fails but does not expend the ability for the day. Light Tolerance (Ex) Lurkers are immune to blinding effects caused by bright light. Poison (Ex) Lurkers typically coat their daggers with shadow essence poison (injury DC 17, primary 1 Str drain, secondary 2d6 Str damage). Ritual Gate (Su) By sacrificing one or more humanoid victims, a lurker or group of lurkers can create a gate to the First World, the Plane of Earth, or the Plane of Air, either to return home or to conjure allies. Creating a gate from Golarion to the First World requires the sacrifice of five victims, and all lurkers participating in the ritual can use the gate to return home. Creating a gate to bring allies from another plane to Golarion requires one sacrifice for every HD of the creature intended to pass through the gate (so five sacrifices can bring a normal lurker or a Medium air elemental, eight can bring a lurker with three class levels or a Large earth elemental, and so on). The sacrifices do not have to be killed at the same time; as long as no more than 24 hours pass between each murder, the magic continues to build until it reaches the required total. A ritual requires a minimum of 1 hour to complete. Thin, almost emaciated humanoids dressed in muted and sun-bleached colors, the lurkers in light resemble jaundiced elven children stunted in their growth by malnutrition.
59 5 Bestiary: Lurker in Light They have large, white eyes, tiny head-horns, and an eerie inhuman grace. Lurkers have pale wings but usually leave them folded against their backs, as the rapid motion of their wings outpaces their ability to blend with the light. As beings of the First World, the lurkers don’t interact with the Material Plane in the same way that other creatures do. Rather than being obscured by darkness or shadow, dim illumination is the only time they become fully visible. In anything brighter than torchlight, the creatures simply vanish, leaving only the eerie sound of their footsteps, or possibly a mocking chuckle to betray their presence. Lurkers turn conventional wisdom on its head in terms of what mortals of the material world consider safe or frightening. Normally, darkness and night are the times when monsters prey and safety is a rare commodity, whereas the bright light of day or the sheltered bubble of illumination from a torch or candle offers protection. With lurkers, precisely the opposite is true. Ecology Lurkers act as solitary stalkers or as a group to prey upon multiple or more powerful targets, most commonly acting in the roles of thieves or brutal, quixotic killers. At times the fey may simply steal objects of their fixation, while other times they might specifically harm their owners even when presented an opportunity to steal without risk. When attacking a group, the creatures often present themselves as a lone individual, hiding their true numbers and using that one to lure their quarry into reach, typically toward heavily illuminated areas. Strangely, they seem to act upon some sort of inscrutable code or notion of justice. Like a huntsman’s hounds, predators loosed from the hand of a distant lord, they appear to fixate on certain enemies or objects, not resting until the target is slain or seized. Given their planar origin, the analogy might be closer than anyone knows. If killed, a lurker’s body decays over the course of several minutes into 2d6 pounds of pale, glowing dust. A pound of lurker dust radiates faint evocation magic and sheds a cold light equal to a candle for 1d6 days. Lurker dust damages shadows as if it were holy water (1 pound of dust is the equivalent of a f lask of holy water). Habitat & Society While native to the First World, lurkers make no appearance in the historical records of Golarion prior to 200 years ago, with encounters first confirmed in central Cheliax and northern Ustalav, and others occurring across the face of Avistan in the subsequent decades. Chelish reports at first assumed them to be some manner of creature from Nidal, but no evidence existed to support such claims. Other reports in Ustalav took them to be spectres or possibly demonic stragglers from the Worldwound far to the north. Initially such encounters were restricted to simply observing and shadowing people in outlying farms, but the creatures quickly became more brash and violent as they realized the unique advantage they possessed over mortals. Tales persist of villages depopulated in the course of a single day, left untouched except for their deceased inhabitants arranged into ritualized positions of public feasting, cryptic phrases written in blood, or bodies arranged in spiral patterns in town squares, the designs perhaps of ritual significance to some fey overlord. While in those first few years, the lurkers attacked soft targets of multiple races brutally and indiscriminately, since that time their actions have become much more selective, and also more daring. Mages with dealings in the fey realms, druids, and occasionally noble humans draw their ire, but the lurkers continually exhibit a preoccupation with gnomes. More than any other race, gnomes—even entire communities of their kind—have become targets of vicious attacks, leading some to suggest that their race, originally from the First World, might have been running from something, and that the lurkers represent whatever it was they fled. Yet at other times, lurkers pointedly leave gnomes alone while targeting others around them, possibly pointing to a vendetta targeted not by race but by bloodline, or something even more insubstantial. Lurkers hate darkmantles, shadow mastiffs, shadows, and yeth hounds, and go out of their way to attack these creatures and those they serve. Some have been known to join forces with vampires, wraiths, or spectres, acting in the daylight hours when their employers are helpless, though in most cases the lurkers view these creatures with contempt and have been known to sabotage or abandon the undead at inopportune times. Courts of the First World Within the shifting, fantastic lands they inhabit, fey of all types congregate not into nations defined by borders, ethnicity, or species, but rather courts of ideological allegiance, wandering wherever their capricious whimsy carries them through the First World or the Material Plane. Some of these courts devote themselves to joy and laughter, others to cruel tricks, theft, and jealousy. The size and relationships of these courts remain largely unknown, but some of their names are known, found scratched into the glass of a merchant’s window when he fails to leave a saucer of milk at the door during a new moon, or trampled into a farmer’s grain when he disturbs the stones half-buried beneath a curious mound of earth at the edge of his fields: the Court of Scattered Moonlight and Broken Mirrors, the Court of the Hungry Sun, the Court of Dancing Raindrops.
60 Pathfinder Chronicles: The Great Beyond Protean, Keketar The terrain shudders and shifts from forest to ocean to arid desert in quick succession as a thirty-foot-long serpentine humanoid slithers forward, appearing to simply jump between points rather than actually moving and carrying the fabric of the Maelstrom along with it. Its scales slowly shift in color and pattern, iridescent on a glossy black surface. The only constant features are its smoldering violet eyes and a crown-like cloud of symbols that swirls about its head. Keketar Protean CR 17 CN Large outsider (chaotic, extraplanar, protean, shapechanger) Init +6; Senses blindsense 60 ft., darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +30, Spot +30 Aura spatial riptide (30 feet) Defense AC 35, touch 15, flat-footed 29 (+6 Dex, +20 natural, –1 size) hp 270 (20d8+180); fast healing 10 Fort +21, Ref +18, Will +19 Defensive Abilities amorphous anatomy, freedom of movement; DR 15/lawful; Immune acid, polymorph; Resist electricity 10, sonic 10; SR 28 Offense Spd 40 ft., fly 40 ft. (perfect), swim 40 ft. Melee +3 dancing heavy flail +33/+28/+23/+18 (2d8+19/17–20) and 2 claws +28 (1d8+5 plus transmutation) and bite +28 (2d6+5) and tail +28 (1d8+5 plus improved grab) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks bonded weapon, change shape, constrict 1d8+11, reshape reality Spell-Like Abilities (CL 17th) At will—chaos hammer (DC 21), detect law, greater dispel magic, greater teleport (self plus 50 lb. of objects only), major creation, move earth, quench (DC 20), shatter (DC 19) 3/day—quickened confusion (DC 21), dispel law (DC 22), empowered chaos hammer (DC 21), ethereal jaunt, polymorph any object (DC 25) 1/day—disintegrate (DC 23), prismatic spray (DC 24), prismatic sphere (DC 26) Statistics Str 33, Dex 22, Con 28, Int 20, Wis 25, Cha 24 Base Atk +20; Grp +35 Feats Combat Expertise, Empower Spell-Like Ability (chaos hammer), Improved Bull Rush, Improved Critical (heavy flail), Multiattack, Power Attack, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (confusion) Skills Bluff +30, Concentration +32, Hide +25, Intimidate +32, Knowledge (arcana) +28, Knowledge (any 3 others) +28, Listen +30, Move Silently +29, Sense Motive +30, Spellcraft +30, Spot +30 Languages Abyssal, Protean; telepathy 100 ft. SQ change shape Gear +3 heavy flail Special Abilities Amorphous Anatomy (Ex) A keketar’s vital organs shift and change shape and position constantly, granting it a 50% chance to ignore additional damage caused by critical hits and sneak attacks. A protean automatically recovers from physical blindness or deafness after 1 round by growing new sensory organs to replace those that were compromised. Bonded Weapon (Su) A keketar can bond itself to a weapon by gripping it in its claws for 1 minute. Once bonded, the weapon gains the dancing quality (with no limit on how long it can remain dancing), and the keketar can conjure the weapon into its hands as if using instant summons, even if it is held by another creature. Most keketars bond with a +3 heavy flail. Change Shape (Su) Once per day, as a standard action, a protean may change shape into any Small, Medium, or Large animal, elemental, giant, humanoid, magical beast, monstrous humanoid, ooze, plant, or vermin. A protean can resume its true form as a free action, and when it does so, it gains the effects of a heal spell (CL 17).
61 5 Bestiary:Protean, Keketar Reshape Reality (Su) Once per hour, a keketar can reshape reality as a full-round action. This ability functions as the spell mirage arcana (CL 17th), except the changes created are quasi-real, like those created by shadow conjuration. Reshaped reality remains in its new form for an hour; if the keketar is still present, it can use this ability to seamlessly maintain an area of reshaped reality. A creature that interacts with reshaped reality may make a DC 25 Will save to see through the semi-real illusion. Terrain can provide concealment, and against foes who do not make the Will save to see through the facade, the reshaped reality can also provide cover. For disbelievers, quasi-real objects and terrain have only 20% their normal hardness and hit points, and break DCs are 10 lower than normal. Dangerous terrain (such as acid lakes or lava rivers) cannot exceed 5d6 points of damage per round (1d6 per round against disbelievers). This ability cannot damage existing structures, nor does it function in areas where planar travel is prohibited. The save DC is Intelligence-based. Spatial Riptide (Su) A keketar’s aura interacts strangely with teleportation effects. Any creature teleporting into the creature’s aura must make a DC 29 Fortitude save or enter a state of suspended animation (identical to temporal stasis) for 1d3 rounds; success means the creature is merely nauseated for 1 round. Creatures teleporting out of the creature’s aura must save against this effect; those that fail are in suspended animation for 1d3 rounds and then teleport to their destinations automatically. While in suspended animation, the creature is fixed in time and space; it can be released with a freedom spell, and freedom of movement provides immunity to its effects. The save DC is Constitution-based. Transmutation (Su) A creature struck by a keketar’s claw attack must make a DC 29 Fortitude save or be affected by polymorph any object (CL 17th). The keketar usually opts to polymorph victims into statues or harmless animals (duplicating the effects of flesh to stone or baleful polymorph). The save DC is Constitution-based. Proteans are snake-like creatures native to the Maelstrom. Believing that true chaos is the natural state of the multiverse, they oppose order in all its forms and seek to unmake the planes back into their primordial state (for more information on other kinds of proteans, see Pathfinder Adventure Path volume #22). Keketars are the prophet-lords of the protean race and architects of the Maelstrom’s metaplastic reality, dedicating their existence to discerning and carrying out the will of their plane’s mysterious rulers. Individual keketars range from 7 to 40 feet long, though they constantly shift and change like the unformed reality of the Maelstrom itself, altering color and serpentine banding patterns, shrinking or elongating, and undergoing even more radical physical changes. However, a keketar possesses two key features: first, whatever configuration its body takes, its eyes are always a piercing shade of amber or violet; and second, a whirling ring of ever-changing symbols f loats above and around its head like a shapeshifting crown. The cloud’s symbols coil, snarl, and intermingle with one another, gradually merging and mutating without apparent pattern. Each keketar is marked by unique stylistic elements within the symbols and the general orientation and appearance of the crown—useful for distinguishing between different individuals. They can hide or manifest this crown at will, but they usually leave it visible. Ecology Keketars exist as a separate protean species as well as a distinct functional caste within the Maelstrom’s f luid, shifting environment. What is not entirely understood about keketars is whether they exist as such from birth, spawned either from the mating of other keketars or produced under chance or rare circumstance from the unions of their lesser kindred, or else are elevated to their status by the touch of divinity or exposure to some chance energy from the deep Maelstrom. Usually hidden within the unmapped depths of the deep Maelstrom, keketars are isolated from the rest of the multiverse, though sages have gleaned some—often contradictory—information from the imentesh proteans. According to the imentesh Saeleshissik, keketars are chosen by foreordained chance—paradoxical as that might be—and the elevation of the worthy. Stating that the crown is by birthright, the protean was evasive when asked directly if members of its own imentesh caste were capable of ascent or promotion to the ranks of the keketars, answering only that the Maelstrom contained no impossibilities. Habitat & Society Keketars serve as a racial priesthood for the protean deities known as the Speakers in the Depths, operating as intermediaries between the other protean castes and the entities they collectively worship. Other proteans treat keketars as nobles, though keketars rarely use this status to rule others. As with many mortal religions, dogma and theology is prone to interpretation and change, and among the proteans the situation is perhaps even more pronounced. Whatever the nature of their mysterious god or gods, separate keketars may come to dramatically different conclusions as to their will and intent. Once they pass on to their kindred proteans just what paths of action they perceive as necessary, such groups may come into conf lict with others tasked with the opposite. Curiously, such conf licts in vision or interpretation only occur between individual keketars and discrete groups, but never within a gathered group.
62 Pathfinder Chronicles: The Great Beyond Vulpinal From the black “socks” on its cheerfully bouncing legs to its large, perked ears and the whiskers at the end of its muzzle, this creature looks like nothing so much as a small, humanoid fox. Bits of clover and dew cling to its loose traveling clothes in places, but dirt and dust are nowhere to be seen, even on its feet and hand-like forepaws. Its amber eyes radiate a sense of supernatural calm as it puts a golden f lute to its lips and plays a hauntingly beautiful melody. Vulpinal CR 9 NG Small outsider (agathion, extraplanar, good) Init +11; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Listen +16, Spot +16 Aura calm emotions (30 ft.) Defense AC 26, touch 21, flat-footed 20 (+6 Dex, +4 armor, +5 natural, +1 size) hp 43 (8d8+8) Fort +7, Ref +14, Will +11; +4 vs. poison DR 10/evil; Immune electricity, petrification; Resist cold 10, sonic 10; SR 20 Offense Spd 30 ft. Melee 2 claws +14 (1d3+1) and bite +9 (1d4+1) Special Attacks pounce Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th) At will—detect evil, invisibility (self only), mage armor, remove disease 3/day—charm monster (DC 20), dispel evil, flame arrow, holy smite (DC 20), teleport (self plus 50 lbs. of objects only) 1/day—major image (DC 19) Base Statistics Without its mage armor, a vulpinal has AC 22, touch 17, flat-footed 16 Statistics Str 12, Dex 22, Con 13, Int 19, Wis 20, Cha 23 Base Atk +8; Grp +9 Feats Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Weapon Finesse Skills Bluff +17, Concentration+9, Hide +17, Jump +9, Knowledge (any) +12, Knowledge (arcana) +15, Knowledge (the planes) +15, Listen +16, Move Silently +17, Perform (any) +17, Search +12, Spellcraft +10, Spot +16, Tumble +14, Use Magic Device +12 Language Common, Celestial, Draconic, Infernal; tongues SQ bardic knowledge +8, lay on hands, speak with animals Ecology Environment Nirvana Organization solitary, pair, or team (3–12) Treasure standard plus masterwork musical instrument Advancement 9–16 HD (Small), 17–24 HD (Medium) Special Abilities Bardic Knowledge (Ex) Vulpinals have the bardic knowledge ability (+8 bonus to the check). Actual bard levels stack with this ability. Calm Emotions (Sp) Vulpinals radiate a feeling of placid serenity, acting like a permanent calm emotions spell with a radius of 30 feet. Any creature entering this area must make a Will save (DC 20) to resist the effect. A creature that makes its save is immune to that vulpinal’s aura for 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma-based. Lay on Hands (Su) As the paladin class feature, except that each day, the vulpinal can heal an amount of damage equal to its full normal hit points. Pounce (Ex) If a vulpinal charges, it can make a full attack that round. Skills Vulpinals have a +8 racial bonus to Jump checks. Speak With Animals (Su) This ability works like the speak with animals spell (caster level 8th) but is a free action and does not require sound. Tongues (Su) Vulpinals can speak with any creature that has a language, as though using a tongues spell (caster level 19th). This ability is always active.
63 5 Bestiary: Vulpinal Among the smallest of Nirvana’s agathion celestials, vulpinals tend to be the most reclusive of their kind, and also the most far-ranging across the plane. While their avoral and leonal kindred might restrict themselves to mountaintop aeries and monasteries, as well as to the guardianship of the plane’s gates, portals, and other important locations, vulpinals can be found anywhere. Like other agathions, vulpinals look like humanoid animals, specifically bipedal anthropomorphic foxes that stand about 3 feet tall. Individuals may vary in coloration, length of ear or muzzle, and so on. True to their roles as wandering bards, sages, and unassuming sorcerers, they typically dress in loose clothing, usually of a simple and functional appearance. Despite this, their often brilliantly colored fur (usually red or red-brown, though silver is also common) more than makes up for any sense of drabness, especially with tails as long as the vulpinals are tall. In addition, they tend to have a f lair for the dramatic, and individual vulpinals often pick a single article of clothing and grant it some signature artistry as an expression of their creativity and personality. Ecology True children of Nirvana, vulpinals possess a unique status among the mortal souls that enter their native plane. As with all the agathions, vulpinals began their existences as mortals, those who at their core possessed a spark of goodness that called them to Nirvana as they stood in Pharasma’s courts. Vulpinals usually appear to be adults, but some look younger (with larger eyes, shorter stature, and kit-like proportions) or older (with an overall leaner look and gray fur about the muzzle and tail). Vulpinals say they appear as the age they felt most defined them during life, or the age at which they were most happy during their mortal existence, though they avoid the question of just how much of their mortal lives they still remember. While there are male and female vulpinals, and they are affectionate among their own kind and with other good creatures, vulpinals cannot reproduce; they only originate directly from mortal souls arriving in Nirvana. This also means that every vulpinal is a unique individual, and they do not have strong family ties to other vulpinals (though they of course form friendships with other vulpinals and other good creatures). Habitat & Society Vulpinals tend to be solitary creatures, perpetually wandering across Nirvana, experiencing whatever they find, sharing, teaching, and learning from whomever they come across before moving on to continue their temporal and spiritual journey. Despite this wandering life, likeminded vulpinals inevitably find that their journeys cross paths time and time again, especially for those who form more intimate or romantic associations (including such pairings outside of their kind). Such meetings allow them to share their journeys and new insights, and once they part ways once again, they do so knowing that their plane will guide them back together. Vulpinals are kindred spirits to lillend azatas; both are wanderers and devotees of art and music. Because vulpinals are small and light, it is an easy matter for a lillend to carry one while f lying, and they sometimes take soaring journeys together, appreciating the scenery, and composing poems or songs about the beauty of the natural world. Rather than engaging in a self-absorbed journey of personal enlightenment, vulpinals freely share their collected knowledge as sages, perform songs, dances, and stories as bards, and spread a thousand miracles as sorcerers. Some vulpinals gain particular renown in their chosen vocations, such as the bard and poet Marrowyl of the Auburn Flute, the scholar and astrologer Virrom Starseeker, and Lady Tarawyth the Fire-Crowned, one of the most powerful evokers of her race. Though they usually travel alone, vulpinals within a given area often congregate together, collaborating in their music or storytelling, debating in their areas of focus, and even sharing spells. Such meetings are not exclusive to their own kind, and as they travel, their ears and whiskers remain keen to the needs of the plane as a whole, and they feel drawn to such places in times of need. When a f lood of proteans emerges from the Maelstrom borderlands or an Abyssal chasm erupts near Nirvana’s borders, groups of vulpinals inevitably appear to provide aid to the besieged leonal and angelic defenders, oftentimes with a zeal and ferocity that stands in stark contrast to their small stature and mellow reputation. Kelifix and the Dragon Kelifix the vulpinal bard spent years looking for the Nirvana Dragon, and on the verge of giving up his search, he awoke one morning within a great cavern filled with tapestries, books of all kinds, and ancient musical instruments. Looking down at the tiny celestial stood the Dragon, inspiring not fear, but radiating a sense of almost unfathomable age and patience. Puzzled and amazed, Kelifix asked his burning questions: “Who are you? How long have you been here?” “I have always been with you, and I will be here in the last days, and afterward once again, if that is my burden.” “Where did you come from?” Kelifix asked. “Elsewhere,” came the Dragon’s reply. “Did you create Nirvana? Did you create us?” “No, child, you made this place. All of you made this place. And in that, know that I am proud of you.”
Campaign Setting TM Golarion Needs Heroes paizo.com/pathfinder All trademarks are property of Paizo Publishing, LLC. © 2009 Paizo. All Rights Reserved Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting Available Now ◆ $49.99 ® ® include the exact text of the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any Open Game Content You are copying, modifying or distributing, and You must add the title, the copyright date, and the copyright holder’s name to the COPYRIGHT NOTICE of any original Open Game Content you Distribute. 7. Use of Product Identity: You agree not to Use any Product Identity, including as an indication as to compatibility, except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of each element of that Product Identity. You agree not to indicate compatibility or co-adaptability with any Trademark or Registered Trademark in conjunction with a work containing Open Game Content except as expressly licensed in another, independent Agreement with the owner of such Trademark or Registered Trademark. The use of any Product Identity in Open Game Content does not constitute a challenge to the ownership of that Product Identity. The owner of any Product Identity used in Open Game Content shall retain all rights, title and interest in and to that Product Identity. 8. Identification: If you distribute Open Game Content You must clearly indicate which portions of the work that you are distributing are Open Game Content. 9. Updating the License: Wizards or its designated Agents may publish updated versions of this License. You may use any authorized version of this License to copy, modify and distribute any Open Game Content originally distributed under any version of this License. 10. Copy of this License: You MUST include a copy of this License with every copy of the Open Game Content You distribute. 11. Use of Contributor Credits: You may not market or advertise the Open Game Content using the name of any Contributor unless You have written permission from the Contributor to do so. 12. Inability to Comply: If it is impossible for You to comply with any of the terms of this License with respect to some or all of the Open Game Content due to statute, judicial order, or governmental regulation then You may not Use any Open Game Material so affected. 13. Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall survive the termination of this License. 14. Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable. 15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE Open Game License v 1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. System Reference Document. Copyright 2000. Wizards of the Coast, Inc; Authors: Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. Pathfinder Chronicles: The Great Beyond, A Guide to the Multiverse. Copyright 2009, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author: Todd Stewart. Tome of Horrors, Revised. Copyright 2002 Necromancer Games, Inc. Authors: Scott Greene, with Erica Balsley, Kevin Baase, Casey Christofferson, Lance Hawvermale, Travis Hawvermale, Patrick Lawringer, Clark Peterson, Greg Ragland, and Bill Webb; Based on original content from TSR. OPEN GAME LICENSE Version 1.0a The following text is the property of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. and is Copyright 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc (“Wizards”). All Rights Reserved. 1. Definitions: (a) “Contributors” means the copyright and/or trademark owners who have contributed Open Game Content; (b) “Derivative Material” means copyrighted material including derivative works and translations (including into other computer languages), potation, modification, correction, addition, extension, upgrade, improvement, compilation, abridgment or other form in which an existing work may be recast, transformed or adapted; (c) “Distribute” means to reproduce, license, rent, lease, sell, broadcast, publicly display, transmit or otherwise distribute; (d) “Open Game Content” means the game mechanic and includes the methods, procedures, processes and routines to the extent such content does not embody the Product Identity and is an enhancement over the prior art and any additional content clearly identified as Open Game Content by the Contributor, and means any work covered by this License, including translations and derivative works under copyright law, but specifically excludes Product Identity. (e) “Product Identity” means product and product line names, logos and identifying marks including trade dress; artifacts, creatures, characters, stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, dialogue, incidents, language, artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, likenesses, formats, poses, concepts, themes and graphic, photographic and other visual or audio representations; names and descriptions of characters, spells, enchantments, personalities, teams, personas, likenesses and special abilities; places, locations, environments, creatures, equipment, magical or supernatural abilities or effects, logos, symbols, or graphic designs; and any other trademark or registered trademark clearly identified as Product identity by the owner of the Product Identity, and which specifically excludes the Open Game Content; (f ) “Trademark” means the logos, names, mark, sign, motto, designs that are used by a Contributor to identify itself or its products or the associated products contributed to the Open Game License by the Contributor (g) “Use”, “Used” or “Using” means to use, Distribute, copy, edit, format, modify, translate and otherwise create Derivative Material of Open Game Content. (h) “You” or “Your” means the licensee in terms of this agreement. 2. The License: This License applies to any Open Game Content that contains a notice indicating that the Open Game Content may only be Used under and in terms of this License. You must affix such a notice to any Open Game Content that you Use. No terms may be added to or subtracted from this License except as described by the License itself. No other terms or conditions may be applied to any Open Game Content distributed using this License. 3. Offer and Acceptance: By Using the Open Game Content You indicate Your acceptance of the terms of this License. 4. Grant and Consideration: In consideration for agreeing to use this License, the Contributors grant You a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive license with the exact terms of this License to Use, the Open Game Content. 5. Representation of Authority to Contribute: If You are contributing original material as Open Game Content, You represent that Your Contributions are Your original creation and/or You have sufficient rights to grant the rights conveyed by this License. 6. Notice of License Copyright: You must update the COPYRIGHT NOTICE portion of this License to The exciting world of the Pathfinder Adventure Paths and Pathfinder Modules comes alive in this massive 256-page full-color hardcover tome, primed and ready for your new campaign! Detailed sections on more than 40 nations provide a full picture of the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting, with new rules, new magic and spells, detailed descriptions of more than 20 gods, and a gorgeous poster map detailing the entire campaign setting. Written by Keith Baker, Wolfgang Baur, Jason Bulmahn, Ed Greenwood, Jeff Grubb, James Jacobs, Mike McArtor, Erik Mona, F. Wesley Schneider, and more than 20 additional authors, including mini-essays on world creation by R. A. Salvatore and Robert J. Kuntz.
paizo.com/pathfinder Printed in China. PZO9209 ® TM he home of the gods. The essence of matter. The realm of demons. The birthplace of souls, and the cities of Hell. All these things and more await in the planes beyond Golarion. Brave mortals leave the cradle of their homeworld and cross the misty ethereal sea or the silver void to discover strange dimensions—some hauntingly familiar, others inherently deadly, and many alien beyond imagining. Bargain with djinn over land rights ceded to the mephit king while fighting off roving patrols of the queen of the fire elementals. Sign treaties with the umbral dragons of Shadow Absalom. Join the archon armies on a sortie into the Abyss, or assist a cadre of devils guarding the winding river of souls through the Astral Plane. Invade your enemy’s dream realm, study your own past, or negotiate with a cannibalistic sentient demiplane. This book describes all of the major planes of the Inner and Outer Spheres, as well as numerous demiplanes and lesser-known dimensions. It also provides maps of the nine planes of the Outer Sphere, and unleashes five new monsters unique to Golarion’s cosmology—soul-eating astradaemons, law-forging axiomites, trickster-fey that lurk in light, quasi-noble keketar proteans, and foxbard vulpinal agathions. Looking for more planar adventure? Check out Pathfinder Module J5: Beyond the Vault of Souls, where the heroes must retrieve stolen soul-gems to prevent the sudden destruction of the multiverse! Explore Infinite Worlds T